Crowds turn out in force to enjoy the summer weather at the Durham Regatta

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A centuries old offer of free ale at a regatta is set to be extended to the ancestors of veterans of one of the most famous battles in history.

After Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo a parade of boats sailed along the River Wear to celebrate it.

Within 20 years the event had become Durham Regatta and in 1834 organisers promised any man who could prove he had fought at Waterloo free ale. Now the organisers have extended the offer to ancestors of Durham men who fought at the famous battle.

James Lamb, Durham Regatta secretary, said: “We know we won’t find any of the original veterans but we want to extend the promise to descendants of the Durham Waterloo-men and invite them to this year’s regatta.”

Twenty years after the battle the club has found there were 43 veterans who attended the regatta and took up the invitation and, in tribute, organisers have issued 43 invitations for free ale at this year’s event for anyone who can prove they are an ancestor of the Durham Waterloo men.

Mr Lamb added: “There were clearly quite a number of veterans who had survived some twenty years since the battle and lived close to the city but their names do not seem to be recorded anywhere.

“So we have had to find other ways of identifying them and then trying to trace their relatives.”

Duke of Wellington portrait painted by the artist Goya

The regatta committee is hoping to find out more about the men’s stories and aims to publish the findings online.

Already regatta organisers have traced around 20 Waterloo veterans who had strong links to Durham but the group has run into trouble trying to track down any more as the 68th Regiment of Foot, which later became the Durham Light Infantry, was not at Waterloo, though it did fight through the Peninsula War.

Nigel van Zwanenberg, chairman of Durham Regatta, said: “We will publish the names and stories of these men, as we learn more about them, on the regatta’s web-site (www.durham-regatta.org.uk) .

“We would love people to contact us with any information on these veterans or with any other family stories about relatives who fought with Wellington and could have been living in or around Durham in the 1830s.

“There are forty-three VIP invitations to Durham Regatta on June 13th and 14th just waiting to be claimed. We will be delighted to send them out to honour the original Waterloo-men and their descendants.”